Mahjong is a game that originated in China. It is played with four players. It is a game of strategy, skill, intelligence, and luck. Luck can play a big or small factor depending on the situation.

In Asia, mahjong is very popular being played as a computer game or in casinos as a table game.

Many Mahjong rule variations exist. A popular version of the game is the Hong Kong/Cantonese rule set. In the most basic version of Mahjong, players match tiles to make sets of three (called "Pongs"), sets of four (called "Kongs"), runs (called "Chows") and a pair (called "the eyes").

A Mahjong set contains 136 suit tiles and 8 bonus tiles. The 144 tiles are dvided into three distinct tile types: Common Tiles, Honor Tiles, and Bonus Tiles.

The Common Tiles are composed of 108 tiles in three suits: the Circles suit, the Bamboo suit, and the Character suit. Each suit contains tiles numbered from 1 to 9, and each of these numbered tiles is replicated four times.

The Honor Tiles set contains 28 tiles of two distinct types: Dragons and Winds. There are three types of Dragons and four types of Winds. All Dragon and Wind tiles are also replicate four times apiece. Honor tiles can earn extra points in a game.

While the basic gameplay is more or less the same throughout mahjong, the greatest divergence between variations lies in the scoring systems. Like the gameplay, there is a generalized system of scoring, based on the method of winning and the winning hand, from which Chinese and Japanese (among notable systems) base their roots. American mahjong generally has greatly divergent scoring rules (as well as greatly divergent gameplay rules).

Be the first to make a winning hand before your opponents do!

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Hong Kong Cantonese Mahjong Information

Speed Mahjong Information